Primed to Succeed

An article was published this week in Science Daily previewing the results of the Northwestern University study that your children may have participated in.

It is clear from many of the article's claims that those of us fortunate enough to have received music instruction from a young age will then go on to be more fortunate in life through the skills we amassed during that instruction. Some of the claims this study makes are:

• Musical children will have a better vocabulary and stronger reading ability
• Music training primes the brain to better choose relevant information when faced with the need for quick selection
  
• Musicians are better at incorporating sound patterns for new languages into words
• Musicians are primed to understand speech better in a noisy environment
• Children with learning disorders may be helped significantly by developing their musical skills

For a link to the full article, click here. Now go celebrate what you have opted to do for yourself and your child and go practice the piano!
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Summer Listening

The Summer Listening CDs are made - make sure you get yours in lesson this week! If your child has been studying with me for a year or more, this summer he will have a CD of piano music to listen to a couple of times a week. If your child is a Suzuki student, he may take a day or two off of listening to the Suzuki repertoire to listen to this instead!

The Playlist is as follows:

1. Bach - Prelude and Fugue in Bflat from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier (Richter)
2. Chopin - Nocturne in Eflat Op. 9, No. 2 (Ohlsson)
3. Beethoven - Bagatelle Op. 119, No. 3 (Brendel)
4. Beethoven - Bagatelle Op. 119, No. 4 (Brendel)
5. It Had to be You - Hank Jones
6. Chopin - Etude Op. 10, No. 2 (Pollini)
7. Schumann - Dreaming from Scenes from Childhood (Horowitz)
8. Schumann - Hobby Horse from Scenes from Childhood (Horowitz)
9. Beethoven - Sonata Op. 13, Movement 2 "Pathetique" (Faith-Slaker)
10. Ligeti - Fanfares from Etudes Book 1 (Aimard)
11. Chopin - Etude Op. 10, No. 1 (Pollini)
12. Bach - Aria and Ten Variations (Tureck)
13. See See Rider - Erwin Helfer
14. Schubert - Impromptu Op. 90 No. 4 (O'Conor)

If your child is of Intermediate Level (Suzuki Book 2 and above), we will discuss the music in the fall with regards to time period and style.

Enjoy!

Teacher and Parent Training Opportunities

One of the things I love about the Suzuki Method is that the training is ongoing and available to all teachers. The initial course, called "Every Child Can" is required for all Suzuki teachers and recommended to all Suzuki Parents.

Pepsi has a Refresh Project that offers fifty thousand dollars to a good idea to help America. With one thousand $50 scholarships, Pepsi just might help spread this idea of nurturing and natural education in the arts.

Below is a link to vote for this idea. You may vote for it every day until July 31st. We currently rank as good idea number 72!